Seymour stood tough in a lot of the wrestling matches, but No. 10-ranked Columbus East showed why it is one of the top teams in the state.
The Olympians scored three pins in a row that led them to a 47-18 season-opening victory against the Owls.
“We did not do too bad, but there is always a bit of nerves coming into the first match,” East coach Chris Cooper said. “It doesn’t matter how much you wrestle. If you have not competed in awhile, you get a bit nervous.”
Kevin Corrales came out and fought a close match for the Owls at 195 pounds to defeat East’s Jacob Bolte by a 5-4 decision. The next match at 220 also was very close, but the Olympians Austin Sheckles edged out Dalton Miller in a 3-2 decision. East captured the 285-pound class via forfeit.
Seymour picked up two big victories when Isaiah Pichardo won by pin against Braeden Berger at 106, and Owen Chandler won a 2-0 decision at 113 over Joey Gordon.
Cayden Rooks scored a quick fall for the Olympians against Brant Steele at 120. The Owls’ John Shuffitt gave Graham Rooks a great battle at 126, but the Olympian was able to overtake Shuffitt and score a pinin the third round. At 132, East’s Dawson Combest bested Alex Smedley to win by pin in the first round.
“I found a way to get into position first and got there fast and I wanted to score as many points as early as I could,” Combest said.
The Olympians’ Jake Schoenegge scored an 11-1 major decision against David Shuffitt at 138. A tightly-contested battle occurred at 145 between East’s Corban Pollitt and the Owls’ Chaney Reichenbacker, but Pollitt just sqeaked by Reichenbacker with a 1-0 decision.
Andy Davidson of the Olympians scored a 9-5 decision against Zach Newton at 152. East’s Austin Wilson beat Ezra Barr by pin at 160. Bradan Thomasma of Seymour won by pin over Brendan Stadtmiller at 170. East’s Lane Goode scored a 12-1 major decision over Leo Pena at 182.
“We are still not quite at full strength yet with some guys coming over from football that still have to get their practices in,” Cooper said. “So we had a couple of different guys in the lineup, but we wrestled well.”
